A place to hang your apron and catch a glimpse of country life

search & rescue

When I woke up today and thought about writing the post I had planned, I agonized. My brain is tired. And what seemed like a great post on Friday seemed like such an insignificant post today. It’s amazing how something can happen and change your perspective.

And then Saturday came… My husband and I are members of a local search and rescue team that responds to incidents of lost and missing persons in our area. On Saturday, we received a call that our team had been activated for a search. We quickly gathered our gear and immediately headed to the reported location.

Many times when our team is activated the search is often called off before we even reach the scene. This is always a good thing. It means the person has been located and there is no further need for our assistance. But as we drove closer and closer to this scene that anticipated call never came.

Instead, we arrived to find an elderly woman suffering from dementia was missing from her home. It was suspected that she had wandered off on her own while her husband had made a trip to the local grocery store.

Hundreds of community members, volunteer fire departments, search and rescue teams across New York State, along with members from a search team in New Jersey showed up to help. Some people handed out fliers, many searched the large area by ground, and the Civil Air Patrol took to the skies once weather permitted. Local residents, businesses, and fire department auxiliaries provided the volunteers with unlimited food and drink. It is truly amazing how people will unite in a time of crisis.

Long hours of volunteering, lack of sleep, and an unfavorable outcome has made me re-think my intended post today. Homemade granola; not today, maybe tomorrow.